The present invention is directed to a telephone with digital answering machine. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a telephone digital answering machine, also referred to below as a combined telephone/answering device, with which fax information can also be processed in addition to voice information.
As is known, fax messages transmitted via a telephone network can be received by fax machines that are connected to an ordinary TAE telephone socket and than can be equipped as a stand-alone device or with an integrated telephone. Moreover, machines are already known wherein, in addition to the fax and telephone function, the function of a digital answering machine has already been integrated. Such a multi-functional device, for example, is the Telfax 890 or the Telfax 840 AB manufactured by Siemens A. C. Fax reception with such devices is unproblematical since a fax message received via the telephone network is printed directly out by the fax machine.
European Patent Application 0 693 845 discloses a digital answering machine with a voice control that is composed of a digital signal processor, a memory for storing software for the execution of basic and special functions, a memory for voice storage, an analog interface with an analog-to-digital-to-analog converter and loudspeaker and microphone connected thereto, as well as computer interface with which a connection to a microcontroller is set up for calling and starting basic and special functions of the telephone answering machine.
An alternative thereto is the reception of fax data with a computer. When, however, one wishes to receive faxes with a computer, for example, a personal computer, then a modem equipped with a fax function is required for this purpose, this being connected, on the one hand, to the telephone network and, on the other hand, to a serial interface of the computer. The modem converts the analog telephone or, fax signals received from the telephone network into digital signals to be processed by the computer. When a fax is to be sent, then the digital signals transmitted from the computer to the modem are converted into analog signals at the output side, these being subsequently transmitted via the telephone network to a recipient. Such a so-called fax modem, however, does not work independently, i.e. it for fax reception is necessary that the computer be turned on in order to be ready to receive at any time. Due to the high energy consumption of the computer, however, this is disadvantageous and therefore undesirable.
The aforementioned problem can be solved, first, in that the fax modem is equipped with an enhanced functionality that makes it possible for the fax modem to accept incoming fax calls and to correspondingly process what are referred to as fax protocols. Further, the fax modem is equipped with a memory that intermediately stores data corresponding to the arriving fax messages, so that, after a computer connected to the fax modem is turned on, the user can transfer the data into the computer as needed and can output the fax message. What is problematical given this solution, however, is that a number of additional hardware units such as, for example, a control means, a memory or a voltage supply for the buffer memory, must be provided for the fax modem, so that the structure of the fax modem not only becomes clearly more complicated but the manufacturing costs of the fax modem are substantially increased.
Another solution was therefore proposed for the aforementioned problem in accord wherewith a turn-on logic is connected between the fax modem and the telephone connection, this recognizing incoming fax calls and, given the recognition of fax calls, automatically turning on the computer connected to the fax modem. What is disadvantageous about this solution, however, is that the computer can only process fax information when it has xe2x80x9cbooted upxe2x80x9d after being turned on, i.e. when it is operationally ready. This, however, can last some time, so that the calling fax machine may potentially in turn turn off, since it was not capable of transmitting its fax data during a presented time. Moreover, the service life of the computer is clearly reduced by the frequent turning on and off of the computer.
To that end, U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,649 discloses a solution wherein an auxiliary means is connected to a telephone line and to which a telephone, a computer and a television set can be connected. This auxiliary means can receive and send faxes, is provided with an answering machine function and has an integrated computer modem. The device is equipped with a first memory for storing voice data and with a second memory for storing fax data. The device only switches the connected computer on when the memory capacity of the voice or fax data store is exhausted, whereupon the arriving voice or fax data are conducted to the computer instead of being stored in the first and/or second fully occupied memory.
Further, German Patent Application No. 94 04 464 discloses a telephone system with an automatic answering machine that is fashioned such that the answering machine comprises a housing with a disk drive and digitally stores fax signals contained in the telephone call on a diskette inserted into the disk drive. For displaying and/or printing the fax signals stored on the diskette, the diskette is placed into the activated computer equipped with a connected printer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone with integrated answering machine with which fax messages can be reliably received without great technical outlay.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in a telephone with integrated digital answering machine having a first reception unit for receiving voice data transmitted via a first transmission link; a second reception unit for receiving fax data transmitted via a second transmission link; a first transmission unit for sending voice data to be transmitted via the first transmission link; a permanently integrated semiconductor memory for storing the received voice and fax data; an interface for interfacing to at least one data processing unit; an output unit for transmitting the voice and fax data to the data processing unit via the interface; and a memory monitor for activating the data processing unit for a transmission of the voice and fax data intermediately stored in the memory and for a transmission of the voice and fax data immediately received via the first and second reception units when the memory is filled to a predetermined capacity.
It is inventively provided that a traditional telephone with anxe2x80x94integrated, digital answering machine is expanded such that incoming faxes can be received and intermediately stored with this digital answering machine, and the data corresponding to the stored fax is transmitted to a computer via a suitable interface after a computer is turned on. Since a memory for the answering machine function is already provided in the combined telephone/answering device, this memory can be expanded without greater technological outlay or, the fax data together with the voice information data of the answering machine can be stored in the same memory.
An advantage of the inventive solution is comprised in that only a slight circuit-oriented modification is required for the realization of the fax reception with a combined telephone/answering machine device, so that the fax function can be integrated into existing, combined telephone/answering machine devices with little financial outlay. Since the computer is connected to the inventive, combined telephone/answering machine device, both the incoming fax information as well as the voice information of the answering machinexe2x80x94after the computer is turned onxe2x80x94can be directly transmitted to the computer as soon as it is ready to operate. As a result of this inventive measure, the recording duration of the digital answering machine function as well as the buffer memory for the fax function are nearly unlimited, since the corresponding data no longer need remain stored in the digital answering machine. Alternatively, a switch mechanism can also be provided that is connected, on the one hand, to the computer and, on the other hand, to the memory of the inventive digital answering machine and that monitors the occupation of the memory. When the memory of the digital answering machine is filled up to a specific degree, then this switch mechanism automatically switches the computer on and thus occasions that both the information stored in the memory as well as the information that arrives is directly transferred to the computer, so that the memory of the digital answering machine is relieved. It can be assured in this way that fax information is intermediately stored in the memory of the digital answering machine during the time the computer runs up and cannot be lost. Moreover, the computer has to be turned on significantly less frequently for securing fax reception than in the known prior art, so that the service life of the computer is not significantly deteriorated. Another advantage of the present invention is that, due to the possible connection between the computer and the inventive digital answering machine or, the telephone with integrated answering machine, settings of the digital answering machine or, of the telephone can be implemented expediently proceeding from the computer and can be transferred via the interface of the digital answering machine.
These and other features of the invention(s) will become clearer with reference to the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments and accompanied drawings.